Marabout women in Dakar : creating trust in a rural urban space Gemmeke, A.

(1)

Marabout women in Dakar : creating trust in a rural urban space

Gemmeke, A.

Citation

Gemmeke, A. (2008, May 22). Marabout women in Dakar : creating trust in a rural urban space. Mande Studies. Lit-Verlag, Zürich/Münster. Retrieved from

https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13403

Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown)

License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden

Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13403

Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable).

(2)

Marabout Women in Dakar:

Creating Trust in a Rural Urban Space

PROEFSCHRIFT

TER VERKRIJGING VAN DE GRAAD VAN DOCTOR AAN DE UNIVER- SITEIT LEIDEN, OP GEZAG VAN DE RECTOR MAGNIFICUS DR. MR.

P.F. VAN DER HEIJDEN, HOOGLERAAR INTERNATIONAAL AR- BEIDSRECHT IN DE FACULTEIT DER RECHTSGELEERDHEID VOL- GENS BESLUIT VAN HET COLLEGE VOOR PROMOTIES TE VERDEDI- GEN OP DONDERDAG 22 MEI 2008 KLOKKE 16:15

door

AMBER BABKE GEMMEKE geboren te Zaandam

in 1977

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout WoSec2:249 Sec2:249

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout WoSec2:249 Sec2:249 02-04-2008 12:01:5102-04-2008 12:01:51

(3)

MARABOUT WOMEN IN DAKAR:

CREATING TRUST IN A RURAL URBAN SPACE

Amber B. Gemmeke

Lit Verlag Münster – Hamburg

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout Woi i

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout Woi i 02-04-2008 12:01:2502-04-2008 12:01:25

(4)

For Ine

In the series Mande Worlds have appeared:

Vol. 1 Stephen Wooten (ed.) Wari Matters: Ethnographic Explorations of Money in the Mande World (2005)

Vol. 2. Amber B. Gemmeke (2008)

Vol. 3. Molly D. Roth Ma parole s’achète: Money, Identity and Meaning in Malian Jeliya (2008)

Vol. 4. Stephen Belcher, Jan Jansen & Mohamed N’Daou (eds.) Mande Mansa - Essays in Honor of David C. Conrad

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout Woii ii

JAJ 021 boek Gemmeke Marabout Woii ii 02-04-2008 12:01:2602-04-2008 12:01:26

(5)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 5

1. Introduction 7

Defining ‘marabout’ and ‘maraboutage’ 10

Finding the real marabout 12

Marabout women in Senegal 15

Political-religious and economic developments 19

Enchantment of urbanisation 22

- From the countryside to the city and back 23

- Development of an occult economy 25

Living and working in Dakar 31

- Filming 36

Outline of the book 37

2. Parcelles Assainies 39 Dakar 40

Parcelles Assainies 43

From the village to Dakar 47

Goorgoorlou and the art of dressing well 50

Insecurity and distrust 53

Media 55

- Newspapers 57

- Television, cinema, song writing and literature 61

Government policies 63

Under construction 67

3. Women and Maraboutage 71

‘Problèmes de ménage’ 72

Being a co-wife 74

Mothers-in-law 84 Infertility 87

In search of a husband 93

The absent husband 101

In the waiting room 103

(6)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

4. Islam, Magic, and Femininity 107

A male marabout majority 109

- Without family network 114

Marabout women 116

- Meissa 116

- Ndeye 118

- Fanta 121

Gaining trust 123

- Purity 124

- Authority 127

- Dreams of the future 132

The paradox of success 136

5. The Rural Urban Space 139

Four women 142

- Mariama 142

- Thérèse 145

- Marie 153

- Fatou 156

- Four women and a husband compared 159

Not jinn-proof 160

Foreign and familiar 165

- Rural power 168

- Urban need 172

Filling the gap 176

6. Charlatans 181

A head not empty 183

Trust 185

Expectations of treatment 187

The fear factor 191

- Causing harm 192

- Manipulation 193

- Abuse 199

City of rumour and ruse 201

How to find a real marabout in Dakar 203

7. Conclusion 207

Creating trust 209

In a rural urban space 210

Beyond Senegal’s borders 212

Women on a map of magic 216

(7)

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

References 218 Appendices 228 A. Newspaper articles on arrested ‘charlatans’ in Dakar 228

B. Map of Dakar 231

C. Marabouts interviewed 232

D. Demographic data on Dakar and Parcelles Assainies 233 E. Senegalese health care centres and NGO’s promoting

‘traditional’ medicine 239

F. Advertisement of a marabout 240

Authors’ index 241

Figures and Photographs

Figures

1. Map of Dakar 43

2. Goorgoorlou by T.T. Fons 50

3. Cheikh Amadou Bamba 56

4. Average age of marriage according to sex and age 83

5. Cartoon on marriage 84

6. Map of Senegal 140

7. Advertisement from The Netherlands 214 Photographs

1. Aminata and Meissa 34

2. Parcelles Assainies, Unité 15 45

3. Parcelles Assainies, Unité 20 46

4. Ndeye in her office 125

5. Meissa’s villa, Cambérène 129

6. Ndeye in front of her apartment in Guediawaye 130 7. Ndeye in front of her new built villa, Parcelles Assainies 133 8. Aminata (in white) and Fanta in Fanta’s living room 134

9. Thérèse in her office 146

10. Fatou performing a treatment 170

(8)

(9)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis came into existence trough the practical and mental support of more people than I can mention here. I am deeply grateful to them all.

The research is funded by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Leiden and facilitated by the Research School CNWS. A travel grant to visit Senegal was provided by NWO’s WOTRO. I am grateful to all institutes for giving me the possibility to write this book. Many thanks in particular to the staff of the CNWS, the African Studies Centre (ASC) and the ASC library for easing my PhD years: Ilona Beumer, Barend ter Haar, Sjaan van Marrewijk, Jarich Oosten, Wilma Trommelen, Ella Verkaik, Willem Vogelsang, Marieke van Winden, and Guita Winkel.

I am much indebted to the people who made my stay in Dakar so pleasurable and my research so fulfilling; Aminata Diop and her family Ibrahima, Coumba, Balla, and Sankoung Diop. Many thanks for having faith in me, for taking amazingly good care of me, my friends, and my family, and for much, much more. Mille fois merci. I equally thank Thérèse Diouf and her family for heart- warming support, as well as Inge Clarijs and her family. Thanks also to Alex- ander Schier for his company in Dakar. I thank Karim Sane and his family in Koussanar. I am blessed with the help of all the participants in this research in Dakar and elsewhere in Senegal. They helped me in my quest for marabouts and in thinking with me about my many questions. I thank them all. Specifi- cally, I thank marabouts Thérèse and Paul, Ndeye, and Fatou, for their faith and support. At the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Dakar, I was always most hospitably received by Ndeye Sokhna Gueye, Francis Nyamnjoh, and Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo. I thank them all for the lively conversations and the enriching comments on my research.

In Paris, I thank Perrine Drapier for her hospitality and company during conferences. In the Netherlands, I thank foremost Hans van den Breemer for the many occasions in which he helped me finding contacts in Dakar and in arranging paperwork. I also would like to express my gratitude to Bart Baren- drecht, Anneke Breedveld, Martin van Bruinessen, Rijk van Dijk, Gerti Hes- seling, Sabine Luning, Erik de Maaker, Trevor Marchand, Steef Meyknecht, Geert Mommersteeg, Dirk Nijland, Peter Pels, Metje Postma, José van Santen, Benjamin Soares, Rachel Spronk, and Karin Willemse for their interest, the inspiring discussions, and the enlightening comments on my research. I equally thank the many people I met at conferences, workshops, and seminars in the Netherlands, France, the USA, Germany, and the United Kingdom who showed

(10)

6

great interest in this thesis and helped me with its progress. My colleagues at the CNWS, the University of Amsterdam, The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) and at the ASC also gave me food for thought during the years of writing this thesis. I thank Roos Gerritsen, Joost Hagen, Wendelmoet Hamelink, Victor Igreja, Renaud Kuty, Nienke Muurling, Maarten Onneweer, Lotte Pelckmans, Juniator Tulius, Caco Verhees, Menno Welling, and Martijn Wienia for articles, book references, and many witty lunches and drinks. My special thanks to Clara ten Hacken and Ismail Hakk

Kad for hapjes and grapjes, and for years of unconditional support. Special thanks also to Marloes Janson and Baz Lecoq for their help and reassurance. I thank Miriam Lang for her dedicated editing of the English text of this thesis.

I thank my family: Emil, Jort, Mireille, and Martijn, Annelies and Eric, for their love and support. Many thanks also to Bregje and Elly. I am grateful for the friendship of Annemieke, Lenneke, Liesbeth, and Moniek. I thank them for traveling with me in person and in spirit, for reflecting upon my thoughts, for making me laugh, and for endless care. I thank Tryfon for all his gifts of beau- ty, comfort, and joy.

I dedicate this thesis to my late mother, Ine van der Wal, whose curiosity and humor showed me how to see, how to listen, and how to comb the beach.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS